County Wants Radar Tower to Be Moved : Ojai: Supervisors, citing residents’ concerns, pass resolution seeking relocation of the weather service’s mountain facility.

At the urging of angry upper Ojai residents, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday asking the National Weather Service to relocate its giant radar tower on Sulphur Mountain.

The supervisors said they believe that the federal government failed to address the health and environmental concerns of the residents when it built the 98-foot weather-tracking station last month on the mountain overlooking the rural Ojai Valley.

“There are a lot of questions that have been left unanswered,” said Supervisor Maggie Kildee. “People have major concerns about health and they have concerns about how it looks.

“It’s caused a great deal of consternation. People feel their little community has been violated.”

The tower, which resembles a large black ball balanced atop a scaffold, was built virtually overnight on a steep ridge off Sulphur Mountain Road.

National Weather Service officials, who plan to use the radar system to predict the weather for the entire Los Angeles basin, informed the supervisors in 1992 that they would build the tower when they relocated their headquarters from Los Angeles to Oxnard.

But residents along the mountain road said they knew nothing of the plan until they saw the large structure--dubbed the “black orb”--looming above their back yards.

They have since sued the federal government for failing to properly notify them of the project or conduct adequate tests to determine the tower’s safety. Although the residents had requested that the county join them in the federal lawsuit, the supervisors opted against the move, saying the resolution passed Tuesday would be just as effective.

The suit is scheduled to be heard Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

While federal officials acknowledge that the system emits low-level radiation that some studies have linked to leukemia, they believe the tower will not cause any harm.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Donna Everett said the government stands behind its decision to build the station on Sulphur Mountain.

“We have had a team of scientists from Stanford research this,” Everett said. “There have been no findings of adverse effects on people and the environment. It simply is not there.”

But area residents and members of the Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that they are not convinced.

“They cannot guarantee that our children will be safe,” said David Hedman, co-chairman of the citizens’ group fighting the project. “We do not want our community used as guinea pigs.”

Linda Fuller, who lives next to the tower, told the board that she is scared to raise her children, ages 10 and 11, in the shadow of the structure.

“I planned on raising these children on this mountain for the rest of my life,” she said, choking back tears. “I don’t want to move.”

The supervisors said they were surprised at the enormity of the radio tower, which is scheduled to be turned on next Tuesday.

When weather service officials appeared before the board in 1992, they told the supervisors the tower would be painted dark green to blend in with the trees. However, the station was made so large it can be seen from Santa Paula.

“I was just dumbfounded,” Kildee said. “The pictures that I see (of the tower) are not what I was envisioning there when we were told it would be unobtrusive and blend in with the trees.”

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey added: “Maybe if we grew big, black trees.”

Kildee said she believes the board measure will send a strong message to federal officials to move the tower. She is also calling on the county to hold a public hearing so residents can express their concerns.

“People need to feel that government can be responsive,” Kildee said.